Comment on Future
kinsnik@lemmy.world 10 hours agowhy do you even need to have your washer connected to the internet at all?
because those people don’t thi j, they do what they are told by companies. there is ZERO logical reason to have the thing connected to the internet.
it won’t add soap…it won’t add clothes…it won’t remove clothes…
there is nothing that machine can do better while connected to the internet vs offline…if there is, then it’s a limitation/problem specifically designed to make the product worse, in order to manipulate people to sign up for stupid crap.
If you really don’t think there’s a legitimate reason someone might want their washer connected to the Internet, you need to get out more.
Have you considered that a washer might be in the basement? And the person might be 2 floors away where they can’t hear it? And they might appreciate being able to get a notification when it is complete to remind them to move it to the dryer?
Open your mind a little more.
Have you considered that you could learn how long it takes to do a cycle and then set a timer on your phone?
That’s more effort per wash instead of being something that only needs setting up one and then will work forever. Also, it’s common for post-90s appliances to include sensors and vary the cycle time based on how dirty the water gets. Except for the data privacy and security concerns, which are mainly because it’s proprietary software rather than inherent in Internet-connected devices, there’s no advantage to using your phone timer over getting a notification.
Whether or not I can isn’t relevant to whether I want to or not. My point is that you act like you can’t conceive of why someone would want it that way. It’s an absolutely narrow minded stance.
I think that you and I are roughly of the same temperament when it comes to what we expect of devices. But can you really imagine
ZERO logical reasons
that anyone might want to? Like getting an alert when their stuff is done?
My phone already does that because I set a timer on it cause I’ve done my laundry before and I know how long it takes to do a cycle.
“How long it takes to do a cycle” is dependent on the mode and settings you pick. Congrats on your streamlined existence, though.
I wouldn’t mind being able to start my washer remotely - I want it to run while I’m not home because it’s noisy, but I don’t want the wet laundry to sit all day like it would if I started it and then went to work.
Doesn’t practically every one have a delayed start option?
Or start it right before you leave. I swear, people in this thread are bending over backwards to try and justify having to connect appliances to the internet. It’s wild.
I mean, in a vacuum, a smart washer is a nice idea which is actually useful. Set the time to start the washer to 430 so it finishes when you get home. That’s a good and useful improvement.
In practice however, gestures wildly there’s the obvious data collection both of your laundry habits and anything the app on your phone can reach.
I’m not opposed to smart tech, but it has to actually benefit to product. A smart TV is a better TV (again, the data collection BS, but I am ignoring that for the moment). It can launch Netflix or Hulu or whatever, and you can watch from the comfort of your couch without another device. It is doing TV better than a non smart TV.
Also, I would love it if there was a good FOSS TvOS.
ayyy@sh.itjust.works 9 hours ago
Knowing when the washer is done with a polite buzz on my wrist is way better than not hearing a beeper from 3 rooms away. It also reports your energy and water usage so you can learn about where you use resources.
There’s a lot to be gained from smart appliances, it’s just that our current system makes the manufacturers adversarial to the users unfortunately.